Canada #673avar 8c Multicoloured 1975 Coastal Vessels, A VFNH Se-tenant Block of 4 on LF/LF Paper, Showing A Slight Rightward Shift of All Colour Except Olive Green

A VFNH se-tenant block of 4 from the 1975 Coastal Vessels Issue, printed on DF/DF paper, showing a slight rightward shift of all the ship colours except for the olive green colour on Beaver. Normally on this issue, the engraving lines outlining the bow and stern of each ship lie more or less on the outline of the coloured hull. Minor shifts in either the colours, the engraving, or both, that are under 0.5 mm are not that uncommon, but shifts 0.5 mm or greater are scarcer. The nature of the shifts are interesting, because they give some clues as to how the issue was printed. For example, the engraving was printed separately from the colour, and was done all at once, as evidenced by the fact that a shift of the engraving usually affects all stamps equally. Where this is not the case, it is usually because one of more of the colours has shifted in the opposite direction. In this lot, Beaver appears correctly aligned, while the other three ships show a separation between the engraving and the left sides of the ships. This suggests that all four colours were printed in separate passes through the press, using different cylinders.

Unitrade does not list colour shifts. So our estimate of a reasonable value is $10. The block offered here grades 80 as follows:

Centering/Margins: 50/70

Paper Freshness: 5/5

Colour: 5/5

Impression: 5/5

Absence of Visible Paper Flaws: 5/5

Perforations: 10/10